National Security Advisor Ajit Doval participated in the ‘Friends of BRICS’ meeting in Johannesburg in South Africa on Monday. Apart from BRICS, the following Friends of BRICS countries – Belarus, Burundi, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kazakhstan and Cuba – also participated in the meeting.
Sources said the issue of cybersecurity was discussed at length in the meeting.
They said NSA Doval highlighted that the gravity of cyber risks will increase exponentially with the advent of disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Internet of Things.

He also highlighted the linkages between cyber criminals and terrorists including the use of cyber space for financing, money laundering, radicalizing, lone wolf attacks, recruitment and secured communications, the sources said.

The NSA, the sources said, noted that younger populations were particularly susceptible to the spread of extremist ideologies through the use of social media sites because they are technology savvy and have impressionable minds.

They said Doval highlighted the need for collective efforts to deal with challenges emanating from cybersecurity.
He said the Global South in particular needed to overcome limitations of resources. In this endeavour, India will always remain at the forefront, working closely with the Global South, Doval said, according to sources.

They said NSA also held several bilaterals with his counterparts from BRICS and Friends of BRICS countries. (ANI)